Microsoft, JBoss Form Alliance

In what could be considered an odd alliance, JBoss Inc., a proponent of the professional open-source model, and Microsoft Corp. last week announced plans to broaden interoperability between the JBoss Enterprise Middleware System and Microsoft Windows Serv

In what could be considered an odd alliance, JBoss Inc., a proponent of the professional open-source model, and Microsoft Corp. last week announced plans to broaden interoperability between the JBoss Enterprise Middleware System and Microsoft Windows Server.
Given that Marc Fleury, JBoss founder, chairman and CEO, has always touted his admiration for the Microsoft model and the companys ability to deliver on Windows, the move may not be so odd after all. Essentially, Atlanta-based JBoss hopes to see its users get the best experience they can on the Windows platform, and Microsoft, of Redmond, Wash., hopes to see more users on Windows, the companies said.

The two companies initially will focus on four key areas: Microsoft Active Directory, Web services, management and SQL Server, officials from both companies said. The exchange of ideas between the open-source powerhouse and Microsoft will include producing an integrated sign-on and federated identity; achieving greater interoperability through the Web services stack using the WS-x Web services architecture; delivering a JBoss Management Pack for Microsoft Operations Manager; and optimizing performance of JBoss Hibernate, JBoss Object/Relational Mapping technology and Sun Microsystems Inc.s Enterprise JavaBeans 3.0, the companies said.

Darryl K. Taft covers the development tools and developer-related issues beat from his office in Baltimore. He has more than 10 years of experience in the business and is always looking for the next scoop. Taft is a member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and was named 'one of the most active middleware reporters in the world' by The Middleware Co. He also has his own card in the 'Who's Who in Enterprise Java' deck.